Engineering Sciences Building (place)

This is the home of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin. This was not the original purpose of the building. I've heard two different stories of what used to be there. The first is that it used to be part of the Advanced Research Laboratories. This makes some sense (I'll get into that in a moment). The other theory is that it used to be home of the Civil Engineering Department. This makes a little sense too.

The building is exceptionally ugly. It is located near the corner of 24th St and Speedway. Interesting things noticeable from the outside: the largest windows are in the stairwell and there are streetlights on top. Those who do not know the name of the building are usually able to identify it when you refer to it as the ugly one with streetlights on top. You can see a picture of it at: http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/graphics/ens.gif

In any case, the building has six normal stories, one through six. It has a floor that is little more than a hallway that is called the Penthouse. It has two basements that are on half levels, the Upper Basement and Lower Basement. The inside of the building is interesting. There is your standard crappy tiles on the floors and suspended ceilings in the lobby. There are also bizzare bathroom tiles on the walls. This abruptly ends as you go further into the building (on floors other than the first). The suspended ceiling, tiles, and bathroom tiles stop. This leaves walls of cinderblock, floors of concrete, and ceilings with god-only-knows-what hanging from them. Anyway, the rumor that it used to be for the Civil Engineering Department makes a little sense, because it is rumored that they would build bridges and shit in the middle of the floors (which were devoid of rooms) and that's why there are no interior treatments.